


Forever Yours

by wetdandelions



Series: Alive Champions [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fix-It, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 21:16:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10625295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wetdandelions/pseuds/wetdandelions
Summary: The Champions aren’t dead, only sealed away.  As Link rescues each one, he realizes there is someone he had left behind a hundred years ago.  Revalink.





	

**Author's Note:**

> so i totally blame chelle for this. i was just enjoying my dinner when she goes "there's a shark prince in zelda" and she starts going on and on about him so i go IMA GET THIS GAME FOR THIS SHARK PRINCE and then as I continue playing I finish sidon, and then...i get to ...the Rito village...and REVALI MY INSECURE ARROGANT ASSHOLE THAT IS MY TRUE LOVE. so then I went on ao3 to see if anyone shipped revalink AND THEN i got to bibliomaniac's fics and i was like that's it, i'm done, this is my OTP for zelda now. (please go read their works they're amazing)
> 
> Also I haven't finished the game - on my last divine beast (Daruk's) so any details about Daruk are made up...SO please no spoilers (i also have only viewed like one memory so...)

“You came for me first?” asks Mipha, her voice weak even as her grip tightens on Link’s hand.  She’s not looking at him even as Link helps her down Ruta, but when they’re on the ground, her big, wide eyes settle on him. 

He shrugs, unsure of how to answer, and her face falls even as she lifts a hand to caress his cheek.

“Your memories,” she says, “Of course.  You don’t remember him.”

“Who?” he wonders, and she shakes her head.

“It’s not my place,” she says, instead.   “I’m glad you came for me first, even if I do not hold your heart.”

He’s about to press, but suddenly there’s a loud shout, and Prince Sidon is emerging from the water, a clumsy mess of himself as he skids to a stop in front of his sister.  His eyes are shining, and there’s an obvious sheen of tears in his eyes, and that’s enough for Link to step back and watch as the two siblings are reunited.

* * *

He knows he should question Mipha.  Her words are cryptic, but there’s an underlying meaning to it that is obvious. 

There’s someone he left behind a hundred years ago. 

And he has no clue who Mipha means.

But a hundred years is a long time, and the chances of said person still being alive and still _waiting_ for him is quite ridiculous so he puts it out of his head.

There’s fanfare when the three of them return to Zora’s Domain, and Link stays for as long as he can.  But he knows Zelda’s waiting for him, and the three champions are left for him to rescue, so he stays until Mipha is strong enough to walk around without any lingering pain.  Her eyes are wet when he announces he has to leave and he enlists Sidon’s help to keep her from trying to follow him.

It’s not fair of him to ask her to fight again.  He's the one who failed them a hundred years ago; this is his journey alone.

Even if it would be nice to have a companion to keep the loneliness at bay.

For a moment, he thinks about Mipha’s cryptic words, but the moment passes as the Sheikah Slate whisks him away.

* * *

He _hates_ the Gerudo desert.  It’s humid and sticky and he nearly faints the first time he steps out from underneath the shade.  When he makes it to the Oasis, he’s eternally grateful and he devours a few hydromelon out of sheer relief. 

The Gerudo women peer at him, and Link can’t help the exasperated sigh that comes out of him when he realizes he can’t enter the Gerudo town since he’s a _voe_ , and not a _val_.  He goes to sleep that day, frustrated, but when the sun rises again, he’s calm enough to think clearly.  There’s always a way around an obstacle, and Link is determined to find it.

And he does.

Even though the clothes he wears is sheer and see-through and he can feel the wind in places that wind should not be felt (though he is less angry about this in retrospect because the heat is _finally_ abating because of his new clothing).   The man who sells it to him is delighted and when Link makes his way down the ladder, he is accosted by the traveler who had just talked to him mere moments before.  He blushes when he realizes the traveler is flirting with him, and it’s all he can do to shake his head and get away from the man. 

The trek to the Gerudo town is easy enough with the outfit, and he’s nervous when he walks past the Gerudo guards.  Everyone there is a _vaal_ , and he’s embarrassed and almost certain he’s going to get caught, but he doesn’t.  It’s not long before he gets to the center of town.

Lady Riju is tiny and small, but she reminds him of someone.  It takes him a moment, but suddenly he remembers.  He remembers fierce comments and warm embraces and a woman that was a friend, but more importantly a mother to Zelda. 

They’re getting their sand seals when Link just has to… stop.  He pauses, one hand on the wall, and he clenches his eyes shut, his breathing going heavy and erratic.  It’s just hit him that just because Mipha is alive and well, it doesn’t mean Urbosa will be.  She could be dead, and he would have failed her just as he had failed everyone a hundred years ago.

But when Lady Riju stops and looks at him with her big eyes that are just like Urbosa’s, he calms.  This is just another obstacle, and as long as he takes it one step at a time, he can overcome this.

(Though when said obstacle is sand seals that swim alarmingly fast across the desert and make his stomach feel worse than when he’s on a boat, he’s not quite sure if he _can_ overcome it.)

Link really _hates_ the Gerudo desert.

* * *

He nearly cries when Urbosa is real and warm in front of him.  She’s alive and unharmed and Link’s still smoking from the blasted lightning the _thing_ had just shot at him, but she pulls him into her embrace anyway.

“You did so good,” she murmurs, and he knows he’s still shaking, but he just holds onto her as if his world’s falling apart.

He doesn’t know how long they spend there, but eventually Nabooru brings them back to the outskirts of town.  He slips away for a second, and when he comes back, Urbosa bursts into laughter.  “That’s how you got in,” she says, in between gasps for breath, “I can’t wait until Revali sees.”

And he freezes, because Urbosa still doesn’t know he’s lost his memory, and he can’t help thinking about what Mipha had said all those months ago.  He doesn’t know why, because Urbosa’s words are vague enough that Revali can be _anyone_ , but his heart still speeds up at the name and deep down, he knows this Revali is the same one Mipha had been talking about.

Urbosa squints at him out of worry, but it seems as if Link’s silence was a thing a hundred years ago as well, because she leaves him be.

Urbosa offers to come along on his journey, and he’s sorely tempted.  She’s not a healer, not like Mipha, and she can hold her own in battle. 

But he remembers the way Riju nearly wept with relief when they had returned, and he remembers that she’s only thirteen, too young to rule over a clan of hardened warriors.  Urbosa is a Champion, but she’s also the shining jewel of her people. 

He can’t ask her to come.

She accepts his words with a nod, before taking his Sheikah Slate and opening up the map. 

“I don’t know why you came to us first,” she says, “but Revali’s waited a hundred years for you.  I know you two were fighting, but…” she trails off, and then she points at the location directly above Gerudo desert.  “He’s closer anyway, and Daruk will understand.”

He doesn’t know how she hasn’t figured it out yet, and he doesn’t know how to tell her, so he just nods.

The Gerudo want to send him off with a big ruckus, but Link can’t stay, not after finding out that Revali is a Champion and that he had failed him just as he had failed the rest.

* * *

He spends the trek to the third Divine Beast with his mind on Revali.  He realizes Revali’s a Rito when he gets closer to his destination, his eyes on the rocky cliffs and the sheer heights that surround the Tabantha bridge.

The difference of their race doesn’t bother him; Mipha’s obvious crush on him had allowed him to come to terms with that long ago. 

When he finally gets to the Rito village, he realizes he’s shaking.  It’s not from a fear of heights (after all, the amount of climbing he has done during his journey is downright ridiculous), but more of a fear of learning more about Revali.

The name means nothing to him right now, but as he glances around the village, he feels a guilt creeping up on him.  A guilt for forgetting everything.

It’s not until he’s talking to a female Rito that the memories hit him.  He knew it was coming, but he’s still surprised when it happens, and when Revali flies into the scene, he spends every moment drinking in details of the Champion.

And then when Revali speaks, he hears the challenge in them, the insecurity, and when he closes his eyes, he’s plagued with memories that he had thought he had lost.

He remembers more about Revali than the others, though he supposes that’s not surprising since Revali is supposed to be the one he’s in love with.

Revali had been a _jerk_ when they had first met, obviously sore that Link had been given a bigger role than him despite his skill.  Link had remembered being just as annoyed with Revali after the encounter, and after Revali had taunted him, Link had spent the rest of their stay plotting a way to get up to Medoh on his own.

Revali had helped him up to Medoh several times during their month stay, and surprisingly, even after the disastrous first encounter, they had begun to bond as friends.  After all, there was only so long Revali could stand the silence and the Rito had begun to chatter to Link to fill the silence.  Link had listened, only interjecting to ask more questions about Medoh, and through Revali’s chatter he started to form a plan to get up to the Divine Beast.  He might not have wings, but Link was resourceful, if nothing else.

It had been dangerous, but he had succeeded on the last day of their stay.  He had found out that Medoh passed by a large rock outcrop on her patrol after every two hours or so, and Link had jumped onto Medoh at the last possible second.  He had nearly fallen to his death, but Revali had caught him, calling him all manners of derogatory terms that were clearly borne out of panic and concern.

“What would we have done if you had died?” Revali had shouted, and Link remembered that he had realized at the exact moment that Revali had started to _care_ for him.

Somewhere, underneath that cold, hard, arrogant exterior, Revali was just as soft as his feathers.  And that had been the start of Link’s awful, horrendous crush.

He can’t remember how his crush ends though, no matter how long he continues to wander the village.  He remembers little instances, such as when Revali had come to the Hyrule Castle with them and one notable occasion in which Revali had brought Link up for a fly through the skies.  But he can’t remember if they had actually fallen in love with each other.

It irritates him, and for some reason, makes him feel even more lonely than before.

He’s at the flight range when he sees Revali again.  And he remembers the braids, the blue feathers, the air in which the Rito held itself, and then his heart feels like it actually stops when Revali starts talking.

“How’s Mipha?” asks Revali, and the Link of that time just shrugs, as silent as ever even as he settles down next to Revali, swinging his legs over the wooden platform without any fear in his eyes.  And he remembers that he had felt no fear, because Revali would have caught him if he had fallen.

“Did she…did she tell you anything?” asks the Rito, his voice uncharacteristically soft, and Link whips his head up, his mouth falling open in surprise.  “Ah,” says Revali, and he cuts his eyes away from Link, his gaze stoutly on the Range in front of them.  “So did you – are you two a thing now, or something?”

Link, his cheeks bright pink, shakes his head a furious no. 

There’s a long silence before Revali speaks again, “There’s more than one champion in love with you, you know.” 

Link stiffens next to him, and Revali seems to notice because he looks back at Link with fondness in his eyes.  “It’s not Urbosa, and Daruk has a wife.”

“Revali,” Link says, and Revali immediately falls silent.  “It’s not – ”

“I know.  It’s not the right time.  But when _is_ the right time, Link?  There’s always going to be something you have to protect the Princess from.  Why can’t we …” he trails off, noting the way Link’s face looks pinched.

“At least tell me it’s not just me,” begs Revali, and his voice breaks as he continues.  “Please, Link.”

His memory fades to the sight of Revali, and Link nearly curses out loud, because he can’t remember what happens next.

Did he tell Revali that he loved him back?  Or had Revali been sealed away thinking that Link didn’t care for him?

Teba’s staring at him out of worry when he shakes himself out of his thoughts, and Link shakes his head, embarrassed enough that he had been starting to tear up.

The sign of weakness is enough for Teba to warm to him, and his skill at archery, that he now knows was taught to him by Revali, only cements that warmth.  And when Teba helps him up to Medoh, his only thought is of how Revali had brought him up in the same exact way.

* * *

 

When he vanquishes the Windblight Ganon, there’s a distinct silence in the air.  They’re so high up, that there’s no other sounds other than Medoh’s mechanical whirring as it stays afloat.

And that’s what gets to him, the silence, the fact that unlike Mipha and Urbosa, there’s _no one here_.

It’s not _fair_ , and it’s not right to think this way, but as tears slide down his face, Link can’t _help_ it.  He knows he loves Mipha and Urbosa and Daruk, but he _needs_ Revali, he needs him to be alive.  He’s been all alone ever since he’s woken up again, and he just wants someone to be there for him so he wouldn’t be so lonely anymore.  He doesn’t even know if Revali died without the knowledge that Link loved him back, and that sets him off even more.

He’s curled up in front of the main terminal, wracked with sobs, so he doesn’t notice until there’s wings around him.  He flinches at first, thinking them a remnant of the past, but as he starts to calm, he realizes they’re _real_ and _warm_ and that Revali’s _alive_.

“What took you so long,” he gasps out, his voice hoarse with disuse.

“Took _me_ so long?” asks Revali, and his eyes are warm and teasing and it takes everything within Link to not just fall apart at the words.  “I’ve been waiting a hundred years for you, you know.”

“I’m sorry,” he starts to apologize, and Revali’s shaking his head.

“I’m just happy to see you again,” the Rito admits, and Link, despite his memories missing, _knows_ that the Revali is being uncharacteristically gentle with him and that’s enough for him to just pull him even closer to him.  Revali’s thin in his arms, and his armor digs uncomfortably into Link, but he doesn’t dare let go.

“I haven’t died, Link,” Revali eventually says, “Though I may from the embarrassment of being rescued by you,” the Champion teases.  “You don’t even have _wings_ , so it’s doubly impressive you’ve made it up here.  Though thank the Godess you didn’t actually jump off a cliff again.”

Link pulls away, holding the Rito at arm’s length so he can see Revali’s face.  Revali blinks, and Link takes a deep breath.  “It’s not just you,” he says. 

“I – Link,” says Revali.  “It’s been a hundred years…”

“I’m in love with you,” he says, cutting the Champion off.  “I’ve always been in love with you.”

“Link,” says Revali, seemingly at a loss for words, and Link takes a deep breath.

“Do you still love me?” he asks, his voice cracking near the end and Revali chokes.  “Even though I’ve failed you – even though it’s _my_ fault you were sealed away – “

This time, Revali cuts him off, his eyes burning with anger, “No, Link, you haven’t _failed_ us.  We’re Champions; we weren’t supposed to rely on you to _save_ us.  We’re not the princess, we’re not yours to protect.  We _failed_ in our own duty, so don’t you dare take all the responsibility on your shoulders.”

Link doesn’t know what to say to that, but fresh tears continue to come and that’s enough for Revali to soften. 

Revali leans forward, still in Link’s embrace, and his beak gently caresses the side of Link’s face in an imitation of a kiss.  “And Goddess knows why, but yes, I still love you.  Unbearably so.  These hundred years, I only thought of you.”

He’s crying too hard to respond, so Revali just chuckles, low and deep in his throat, “Medoh sees everything, you know.  Though to be honest, most of the time, I was just praying to the Goddess that your luck will hold out.”

“Luck,” he repeats, his nose scrunched, and Revali laughs, loud and free.

“Luck,” says Revali, and he leans forward and kisses Link.

* * *

When they make it back to the Rito village, the elder congratulates Link and nearly chokes to death in the same sentence when Revali makes his presence known.  They’re not related, but the elder recognizes Revali immediately, and when Revali finds out that the elder thought Link was a descendent, Revali stares for a long moment, before laughing.

Link finds out why later in the night, when Revali is given his old quarters again – left untouched due to respect. 

His snowquill armor had been singed by Medoh’s cannons and then ripped by the Calamity Ganon, and he’s already taken it off for the night because Revali’s quarters are ridiculously warm. 

So when Revali thrusts armor at him, he immediately thinks that Revali had somehow fixed his armor in the last hour or so.

But it’s different.  It’s lined with blue feathers – feathers that hold the same hue as his Champion.  And although it’s hard to tell without putting it on, Link knows already that it’s been tailored to fit him.

After all, Mipha made him armor that fit him perfectly, it isn’t an unfair stretch to assume Revali would do the same.

He’s trembling as he tops it on, and he turns pink when Revali stares at him in obvious pleasure.

“Mipha made one for me, too,” he says, teasing, and yelps in surprise when Revali pulls him closer by the collar.

“Mine,” says Revali, instead of anything else intelligent, and Link smiles, amused that he’s reduced his ridiculous, well-articulate Champion to _this_.

He knows Revali notices his amusement, because there’s a fierce glint of a challenge in the Rito’s eyes.  Link ignores it though, because he’s been waiting for this even before he had woken from the slumber of restoration. 

His heart full, Link covers Revali’s wing with his hand, and simply says, “Yours.” 


End file.
